The Graham Norton Show
31x08 (24/11/2023 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Have I Got News for You
66x07 (24/11/2023 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Friday, 24 November 2023
Thursday, 23 November 2023
TV
An Adventure in Space and Time
[2nd watch]
A timely repeat (its first for almost a decade) of this one-off drama made to celebrate Doctor Who's 50th anniversary, which depicts the series' creation and early years. More thoughts here.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Doctor Who: The Daleks in Colour
Doctor Who's second-ever serial, which introduced his long-standing nemeses, here re-edited into a brisk 75-minute movie version and, most strikingly, with its original black-and-white footage painstakingly colourised (hence the "in Colour" of the title). More thoughts here.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
[2nd watch]
A timely repeat (its first for almost a decade) of this one-off drama made to celebrate Doctor Who's 50th anniversary, which depicts the series' creation and early years. More thoughts here.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Doctor Who: The Daleks in Colour
Doctor Who's second-ever serial, which introduced his long-standing nemeses, here re-edited into a brisk 75-minute movie version and, most strikingly, with its original black-and-white footage painstakingly colourised (hence the "in Colour" of the title). More thoughts here.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Radio
Zoe Ball and Friends
Zoe’s Doctor Who Special… with David Tennant and Russell T Davies
[Listen to it (again) on BBC Sounds.]
Zoe’s Doctor Who Special… with David Tennant and Russell T Davies
[Listen to it (again) on BBC Sounds.]
Wednesday, 22 November 2023
Radio
Radio 2 Celebrates Doctor Who at 60
The Modern Era...
I suppose I need to slightly take back a comment I made last time — about documentaries like this always being unfairly balanced towards nuWho — because, actually, where Part One left off at the end of 1989, 26 years into Doctor Who's story, this episode begins in... 1990, by covering the Wildness Years and TV Movie, rather than diving straight into the 2005 revival. Maybe that 'non-era' is finally getting its due...
[Listen to it (again) on BBC Sounds.]
The Modern Era...
I suppose I need to slightly take back a comment I made last time — about documentaries like this always being unfairly balanced towards nuWho — because, actually, where Part One left off at the end of 1989, 26 years into Doctor Who's story, this episode begins in... 1990, by covering the Wildness Years and TV Movie, rather than diving straight into the 2005 revival. Maybe that 'non-era' is finally getting its due...
[Listen to it (again) on BBC Sounds.]
Tuesday, 21 November 2023
Radio
Radio 2 Celebrates Doctor Who at 60
The Classic Years...
BBC Radio's celebration of Doctor Who's 60th continues with this two-part history, in which host Jo Whiley links together a series of interview clips and whatnot to create an oral history. Each hour-long half focuses on one of the two major eras, Classic Who and nuWho. Once upon a time that would've seemed like pandering to the modern, but at this point, while they're not yet equal, we're comparing 26 years to 18, so, y'know, getting there.
[Listen to it (again) on BBC Sounds.]
The Classic Years...
BBC Radio's celebration of Doctor Who's 60th continues with this two-part history, in which host Jo Whiley links together a series of interview clips and whatnot to create an oral history. Each hour-long half focuses on one of the two major eras, Classic Who and nuWho. Once upon a time that would've seemed like pandering to the modern, but at this point, while they're not yet equal, we're comparing 26 years to 18, so, y'know, getting there.
[Listen to it (again) on BBC Sounds.]
Monday, 20 November 2023
TV
The One Show
20/11/2023 edition
With guests David Tennant and Russell T Davies. Yep, more Doctor Who.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
20/11/2023 edition
With guests David Tennant and Russell T Davies. Yep, more Doctor Who.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Radio
Surviving Doctor Who: An A-Z
Part 1 (of 2)
Part 2 (of 2)
My personal Doctor Who 60th celebration may have reached its end, but that's just in time for there to be lots of official celebratory shenanigans on TV and radio — mostly the latter this time round, it feels like (the 50th brought varied documentaries and whatnot to our goggleboxes, whereas the 60th is quite a bit lighter in that department).
Here's something that's likely to remain a highlight: professional Whovian Toby Hadoke provides a whistlestop alphabetical guide to what life is like as a fan of Doctor Who. Die-hard fans will recognise everything he brings up, so casuals or newcomers may find it a worthwhile primer. Either way, it's done with a fun wink-and-nod that characterises the best of Who fandom: we take it all terribly seriously, but know how to poke fun at ourselves, too.
[Listen to both parts (again) on BBC Sounds.]
Part 1 (of 2)
Part 2 (of 2)
My personal Doctor Who 60th celebration may have reached its end, but that's just in time for there to be lots of official celebratory shenanigans on TV and radio — mostly the latter this time round, it feels like (the 50th brought varied documentaries and whatnot to our goggleboxes, whereas the 60th is quite a bit lighter in that department).
Here's something that's likely to remain a highlight: professional Whovian Toby Hadoke provides a whistlestop alphabetical guide to what life is like as a fan of Doctor Who. Die-hard fans will recognise everything he brings up, so casuals or newcomers may find it a worthwhile primer. Either way, it's done with a fun wink-and-nod that characterises the best of Who fandom: we take it all terribly seriously, but know how to poke fun at ourselves, too.
[Listen to both parts (again) on BBC Sounds.]
Sunday, 19 November 2023
TV
K-9 and Company
A Girl's Best Friend
Modern Who has given rise to multiple spin-offs — Torchwood, The Sarah Jane Adventures, and Class, plus a couple of animations, not to mention all the behind-the-scenes-type series. And Big Finish have made a cottage industry out of producing entire ranges of the things. And in the Wilderness Years when proper Doctor Who was off the telly, fans took all sorts of elements and produced their own films and whatnot. But in the classic era, while various ideas were discussed from time to time, only one ever actually made it to screen: this one-off special from Christmas 1981. (It was produced as a pilot. Its ratings were strong (better than Who's at the time, in fact), but a change of channel controller meant the intended series was scrapped.) I'd never seen it... so what better pick for my 60th anniversary celebratory marathon, to honour all those other spin-offs, than the original?
And you know what, I really rather liked it. It's not perfect, but it's quite fun, with a nice Christmassy folk horror — but for kids — vibe. (Also, that means it's quite appropriate viewing for this time of year; or for next month, if you're a stickler about when to watch Christmas stuff.) I don't know whether they would've kept up that style for the full series or mixed it around more, but it's such a shame it was canned and we'll never know.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Oh, and, incidentally, this is officially the end of my Doctor Who 60th anniversary celebratory marathon! Well, Origins sort of was, as this technically isn't directly Doctor Who, but I've only watched it because of the marathon, so... Anyway, what seemed like a huge undertaking at the start has absolutely flown by in the end. So glad I did it — and it's left me with a tonne of stuff I want to go back to and dig into more, so I hope I keep that effort up.
Also watched today...
Behind the Sofa
18x08 K9 and Company [season finale]
For this edition of “Doctor Who Gogglebox”, they’ve chosen to only include three stars of the story itself, which leads to some nice reminisces, but it would’ve been fun to see some reactions from other Who alumni. At 36 minutes for a 49-minute episode, it’s almost a commentary track; but also, with only the three contributors throughout, a little thinner than it needs to be. It’s not bad, but it feels like a missed opportunity.
A Girl's Best Friend
Modern Who has given rise to multiple spin-offs — Torchwood, The Sarah Jane Adventures, and Class, plus a couple of animations, not to mention all the behind-the-scenes-type series. And Big Finish have made a cottage industry out of producing entire ranges of the things. And in the Wilderness Years when proper Doctor Who was off the telly, fans took all sorts of elements and produced their own films and whatnot. But in the classic era, while various ideas were discussed from time to time, only one ever actually made it to screen: this one-off special from Christmas 1981. (It was produced as a pilot. Its ratings were strong (better than Who's at the time, in fact), but a change of channel controller meant the intended series was scrapped.) I'd never seen it... so what better pick for my 60th anniversary celebratory marathon, to honour all those other spin-offs, than the original?
And you know what, I really rather liked it. It's not perfect, but it's quite fun, with a nice Christmassy folk horror — but for kids — vibe. (Also, that means it's quite appropriate viewing for this time of year; or for next month, if you're a stickler about when to watch Christmas stuff.) I don't know whether they would've kept up that style for the full series or mixed it around more, but it's such a shame it was canned and we'll never know.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Oh, and, incidentally, this is officially the end of my Doctor Who 60th anniversary celebratory marathon! Well, Origins sort of was, as this technically isn't directly Doctor Who, but I've only watched it because of the marathon, so... Anyway, what seemed like a huge undertaking at the start has absolutely flown by in the end. So glad I did it — and it's left me with a tonne of stuff I want to go back to and dig into more, so I hope I keep that effort up.
Also watched today...
Behind the Sofa
18x08 K9 and Company [season finale]
For this edition of “Doctor Who Gogglebox”, they’ve chosen to only include three stars of the story itself, which leads to some nice reminisces, but it would’ve been fun to see some reactions from other Who alumni. At 36 minutes for a 49-minute episode, it’s almost a commentary track; but also, with only the three contributors throughout, a little thinner than it needs to be. It’s not bad, but it feels like a missed opportunity.
Radio
Doctor Who: The Wilderness Years
Matthew Sweet hosts this look at the so-called Wilderness Years — the period between Doctor Who's cancellation in 1989 and its return in 2005 when (apart from one night in 1996) it wasn't around. Except, as most Whovians know, it very much was around. I think this doc is hoping to redress that perception somewhat by highlighting the mass of fan creativity from that era, but the problem is, with only half-an-hour to work with, it can only be a whistlestop tour of just some of what was going on.
Partly that's because it wastes a load of time rehashing the story of the cancellation. Then there's a bit about the New Adventures, a bit about Audio Visuals and how that led to Big Finish, a minute or two with McGann chatting about the TVM, an acknowledgement of fan straight-to-video productions... and then we're done. Where be DWM and its comic strip? What about the webcasts? What about the stories those different media told, not just that they existed? There's not enough time for any of that. So, it's nice, but the definitive documentary is still waiting to be made.
[Listen to it (again) on BBC Sounds.]
Matthew Sweet hosts this look at the so-called Wilderness Years — the period between Doctor Who's cancellation in 1989 and its return in 2005 when (apart from one night in 1996) it wasn't around. Except, as most Whovians know, it very much was around. I think this doc is hoping to redress that perception somewhat by highlighting the mass of fan creativity from that era, but the problem is, with only half-an-hour to work with, it can only be a whistlestop tour of just some of what was going on.
Partly that's because it wastes a load of time rehashing the story of the cancellation. Then there's a bit about the New Adventures, a bit about Audio Visuals and how that led to Big Finish, a minute or two with McGann chatting about the TVM, an acknowledgement of fan straight-to-video productions... and then we're done. Where be DWM and its comic strip? What about the webcasts? What about the stories those different media told, not just that they existed? There's not enough time for any of that. So, it's nice, but the definitive documentary is still waiting to be made.
[Listen to it (again) on BBC Sounds.]
Saturday, 18 November 2023
Comics
Doctor Who: Origins by Jody Houser & Roberta Ingranata
Here we are, then: the final official Doctor for my Doctor Who 60th anniversary celebratory marathon — the Fugitive Doctor. There's even less to go on for her than there is for the War Doctor. Other than her couple of TV episodes, this four-part Titan comic miniseries is about it (Big Finish did announce some audios starring her ages ago, but there's no sign of their release. Rumour has it the launching of new era(s) on TV may've set them back somewhat). It does have the benefit of allowing me to tick one further type of media off my list: "Titan Comics" (differing from "DWM comics" that I did for the Fourth Doctor).
As a story in itself, it's... fine. The blurb and pullquotes on the cover do overhype it somewhat — "an essential read", things like that. It's not really essential. I mean, its depiction of the Fugitive Doctor is fine, but it doesn't really reveal any more about her character, nor give her any more memorable moments, or anything like that. If you're feeling starved of Fugitive content, it's considerably better than nothing, but the definitive story of this incarnation remains untold.
Here we are, then: the final official Doctor for my Doctor Who 60th anniversary celebratory marathon — the Fugitive Doctor. There's even less to go on for her than there is for the War Doctor. Other than her couple of TV episodes, this four-part Titan comic miniseries is about it (Big Finish did announce some audios starring her ages ago, but there's no sign of their release. Rumour has it the launching of new era(s) on TV may've set them back somewhat). It does have the benefit of allowing me to tick one further type of media off my list: "Titan Comics" (differing from "DWM comics" that I did for the Fourth Doctor).
As a story in itself, it's... fine. The blurb and pullquotes on the cover do overhype it somewhat — "an essential read", things like that. It's not really essential. I mean, its depiction of the Fugitive Doctor is fine, but it doesn't really reveal any more about her character, nor give her any more memorable moments, or anything like that. If you're feeling starved of Fugitive content, it's considerably better than nothing, but the definitive story of this incarnation remains untold.
Collection Count
Collection Count tracks my DVD/Blu-ray collection via a number of statistics every week.
All TV additions this week; in fact, all animated. First, the latest animated missing Doctor Who story, The Underwater Menace, which replaces the DVD release from a few years ago. Second, anime series Nadia: Secret of the Blue Water in 4K.
Number of titles in collection: 3,196 [up 1]
Of which DVDs: 1,021 [down 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,175 [up 2]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 311 [up 1]
Number of discs in collection: 7,794 [up 10]
Number of films: 3,929 [no change]
Number of additional cuts: 347 [no change]
Number of TV episodes: 9,660 [up 39]
Number of short films: 1,101 [no change]
See you next week, faithful reader.
All TV additions this week; in fact, all animated. First, the latest animated missing Doctor Who story, The Underwater Menace, which replaces the DVD release from a few years ago. Second, anime series Nadia: Secret of the Blue Water in 4K.
Number of titles in collection: 3,196 [up 1]
Of which DVDs: 1,021 [down 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,175 [up 2]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 311 [up 1]
Number of discs in collection: 7,794 [up 10]
Number of films: 3,929 [no change]
Number of additional cuts: 347 [no change]
Number of TV episodes: 9,660 [up 39]
Number of short films: 1,101 [no change]
See you next week, faithful reader.
Friday, 17 November 2023
TV
Children in Need 2023
Apparently I haven't watched Children in Need since 2020. I knew I wasn't as dedicated to these charity-athons as I used to be (I watched them religiously in my childhood, through my teens, and I guess most of my twenties too), but I thought I'd watched it more regularly than that of late. Obviously not. (I checked out the intro to last year's show while it was still on iPlayer and realised, yeah, I'd only watched the reveal of Millie Gibson as the new Who companion on social media.)
Frankly, I can't really say I watched this year's either: I dipped in and out, primarily waiting for the Doctor Who sketch. That took the form of a brand-new scene, possibly titled Destination: Skaro (per RTD on Instagram), starring David Tennant's Fourteenth Doctor in an encounter (sort of) with the Daleks. You can watch it by itself on iPlayer or YouTube, as well as the whole charity event (linked below). More thoughts on Letterboxd.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Doctor Who: Unleashed
1x00 Children in Need
Who's new behind-the-scenes show begins (sort of — I mean, it's the first "episode" of Unleashed that's been released, but it's not full-length, is it?) with a look at the making of that Children in Need scene.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
The Last Leg
29x02 (17/11/2023 edition)
More Doctor Who-inspired viewing, sort of, in the sense that David Tennant was a guest tonight and I was still around my TV so ended up tuning in. I used to watch The Last Leg regularly, of course, and it was funny to see how little it's changed over the numerous years I've not been a viewer.
[Watch it (again) on Channel 4.]
Apparently I haven't watched Children in Need since 2020. I knew I wasn't as dedicated to these charity-athons as I used to be (I watched them religiously in my childhood, through my teens, and I guess most of my twenties too), but I thought I'd watched it more regularly than that of late. Obviously not. (I checked out the intro to last year's show while it was still on iPlayer and realised, yeah, I'd only watched the reveal of Millie Gibson as the new Who companion on social media.)
Frankly, I can't really say I watched this year's either: I dipped in and out, primarily waiting for the Doctor Who sketch. That took the form of a brand-new scene, possibly titled Destination: Skaro (per RTD on Instagram), starring David Tennant's Fourteenth Doctor in an encounter (sort of) with the Daleks. You can watch it by itself on iPlayer or YouTube, as well as the whole charity event (linked below). More thoughts on Letterboxd.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Doctor Who: Unleashed
1x00 Children in Need
Who's new behind-the-scenes show begins (sort of — I mean, it's the first "episode" of Unleashed that's been released, but it's not full-length, is it?) with a look at the making of that Children in Need scene.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
The Last Leg
29x02 (17/11/2023 edition)
More Doctor Who-inspired viewing, sort of, in the sense that David Tennant was a guest tonight and I was still around my TV so ended up tuning in. I used to watch The Last Leg regularly, of course, and it was funny to see how little it's changed over the numerous years I've not been a viewer.
[Watch it (again) on Channel 4.]
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)